Hit 



^ 



-A tijjiicdl Kriitm ki/ dir-cuK d tulnu en Imni 

 Courtesy of the University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture 



The matter of taste is the simple explanation of why 

 there is such a variety of tobacco commodities, such a 

 multiplicity of brands. Some users of snuff, various 

 sorts of chewing tobacco and strong cigars, for instance, 

 prefer a smoky flavor in these products. So long as they 

 do, the leaf ingredient will continue to be fire-cured. 



After the plants have had a few days of barn-curing, 

 hardwood or hardwood sawdust fires, built on barn 

 floors, are kept burning slowly and at low temperatures 

 at first, for a three- to ten-day period in some areas, 

 from ten to forty in others. The cured leaves are 

 stripped from the stalk when humidity conditions are 

 favorable. 



Fire-curing is a very old method. The early colonists 

 of Virginia used the method, which was common among 

 some Indian tribes. But the fire-curing of leaf as prac- 

 ticed by colonial farmers had a special purpose— to 

 prevent deterioration of tobacco on long sea voyages. 



